Zina Studios was originally founded in 1923 by Zina Akintievsky who came to the United States as a Russian émigré. With her husband they ran a small but elite art and design studio in New York, at 204 East 88th Street. Drawing upon their artistic backgrounds, they found early success in the hand printed and painted wallpaper and fabric industry. Together they went on to develop many of our traditional patterns, including Mille Fleurs and Chinese, supplying to top decorators of the time.

In 1961, Count Nicholas Bobrinskoy (a great, great, great grandson of Catherine the Great, Empress of Russia) joined the Studio as a junior partner and began learning the hand printing trade. An accomplished artist in his own right, Count Nicholas had spent his earlier years in Europe, where his family had settled after having their estates confiscated during the Revolution. Born in Nice, France in 1921, he studied at the Beaux Arts Institute, and one of his early paintings was awarded a national French prize. To help fund his move to the US, Count Nicholas paint silk scarves fabricated from surplus parachutes from WWII, sending them to his aunt in New York City, Princess Obolensky, who would sell them in her boutique.

After settling in New York, Count Nicholas started work with Zina, and his talent impressed her so much that upon her retirement the Studio was left to Count Nicholas. As the business grew, Bobrinskoy enlisted his wife Tania (herself of Russian nobility) to manage the business side so he could focus on pattern development. They soon outgrew the Manhattan Studio and in 1970 moved the business to 85 Purdy Avenue, in New Rochelle, NY, where it remained for 20 years, until moving to its current location in Mount Vernon, NY. After Count Nicholas passed in 2006, Countess Tania continued running the business up to January of 2019 when she retired to focus on her charity work.

Now under the stewardship of Scott Sloat, a partner at David Kleinberg Design Associates, with 30 years of design industry experience, and Jorge Tan, who has many years of financial industry background, the Studio has launched a new chapter. Together they bring a keen sense of preservation to this important and historic archive. Under their leadership, the Studio is taking steps to modernize the client service side, while maintaining the historic artistic traditions that made Zina Studios famous. This includes having a top notch hand printing and design team, including our lead printer Sean Stoll who has been with the Studio for 38 years and has extensive knowledge of the collection and printing techniques.

Zina Studios continues to enrich and increase their collection, now over 200 patterns, ranging from traditional to contemporary designs as well as create special designs upon client's requests. in 2016, the Studio teamed with Holland and Sherry Interiors for a curated collection of wallpapers, which is available through all Holland and Sherry showrooms.